Frederick Blackman

Blackman proposed the law of limiting factors in 1905. According to this law, when a process depends on a number of factors, its rate is limited by the pace of the slowest factor. Blackman's law is illustrated by C O2 concentration as a limiting factor in the rate of oxygen production in photosynthesis: Suppose a leaf is exposed to a certain light intensity which can use 5 mg. of C O2 per hour in photosynthesis. If only 1 mg. of C O2 enters the leaf in an hour, the rate of photosynthesis is limited due to C O2 factor. But as the concentration of the C O2 increases from 1 to 5 mg./hour the rate of photosynthesis is also increased. ==Works==

'Experimental researches in vegetable assimilation and respiration': • 1895: "On a new method for investigating the carbonic acid exchanges of plants", Annals of Botany 9(1): 161 • 1895: "On the paths of gaseous exchange between areal leaves and the atmosphere", Annals of Botany • 1895: (with Gabrielle Matthaei) "On the effect of temperature on carbon dioxide assimilation" • 1905: (with Gabrielle Matthaei) A Quantitative Study of Carbon Dioxide Assimilation and Leaf Temperature in Natural Illumination, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society at London • 1905: "Optima and Limiting Factors", Annals of Botany, ==See also==